promissive, a. Now rare.
(prəʊˈmɪsɪv)
[ad. late L. prōmissīv-us promising, applied to the future tense: see promise and -ive.]
Conveying, implying, or having the character of a promise; promissory.
| a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 24 She amazed them with a kind of promissive disputation. 1650 Hobbes De Corp. Pol. 186 All Declarations..concerning Future Actions and Omissions, are either Promissive, as ‘I will do, or not do’; or Provisive, As for example, ‘If this be done or not done, this will follow’; or Imperative, as ‘Do this, or do it not’. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iv. 356 God's Wil reveled in his Word is either promissive or preceptive. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Matt. xi. 12 Which words are both restrictive and promissive. 1824 L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. vi. 119 Instead..of making a separate mood for every auxiliary verb, and introducing moods Interrogative, Optative, Promissive, Hortative, Precative, &c. we have exhibited such only as are obviously distinct. 1850 Proc. Philol. Soc. IV. 186 Shall (2, 3) and will (1) [are called] promissive. |